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Proposition 6 on water, other amendments take early lead in statewide results

Voter apathy didn’t hurt after all

AUSTIN — Voter apathy didn’t hurt after all.

To the relief of state leaders, unofficial election returns released Tuesday night showed the small percentage of Texas voters who went to the polls overwhelmingly favored Proposition 6, the measure that will authorize the Legislature to withdraw $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to begin funding the state’s 50-year water plan.

With more than 65 percent of all votes tallied, the measure was passing by nearly 74 percent.

“I am thrilled that voters approved Proposition 6 overwhelmingly,” said Rep. Four Price, co-author of the bill that would allow the lawmakers to implement the constitutional amendment the voters approved.

“We can now move forward in addressing our water needs,” Price, R-Amarillo, said.

It was the same story with the eight other propositions on Tuesday’s ballot. Though the rate of approval varied, the electorate voted for all of them as well.

For instance, Proposition 4, which Rep. Charles Perry authored, was passing with 85 percent of the votes. The measure will provide a partial homestead property tax exemption to a partially disabled veteran or to the surviving spouse if the residence is donated by a charitable organization.

“What is happening in Lubbock and across the state is that Texas veterans were losing their homes,” Perry, R-Lubbock, said before early voting began. “This is going to correct those inequities.”

Like Proposition 4, the seven other measures received less attention, even one that will authorize property owners 62 and older to get reverse mortgages to purchase a second home. In addition, those propositions all drew little or no opposition.

It was Proposition 6 that state and business leaders seemed more preoccupied with, and the one that also drew the strongest opposition.

Thus, no one seemed happier with the passage of the measure than Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.

The San Antonio Republican crisscrossed the state — including stops in Amarillo and Lubbock—– to campaign for it.

“The Texas economy took a big step forward tonight,” Straus said in a statement his office released after it became apparent the measure would easily pass.

“This vote will allow communities across Texas to secure the water resources needed to foster private-sector growth and economic opportunity,” Straus said. “Job creators will know that Texas has the water supply they need, and towns and cities will be better prepared for prolonged drought conditions.”

Gov. Rick Perry, who also actively campaigned for the passage of Proposition 6, sounded just as happy.

“Today, the people of Texas made history, ensuring we’ll have the water we need to grow and thrive for the next five decades, without raising state taxes,” Perry said in a separate statement.

“Now it’s time to get to work on the projects that’ll help us meet our growing water needs, preserving and improving both our economic strength and quality of life,” Perry said.

Perry, Straus and other state leaders worried that a low turnout could derail Proposition 6 because a rare coalition of conservative groups and liberal environmentalists opposed it for a variety of reasons, one of which was that they said the Rainy Day Fund should be used for emergencies only.

Voter turnout in constitutional amendment elections is seldom higher than 10 percent and this year was no different. With two-thirds of all votes tallied, Tuesday’s turnout was just more than 6 percent. Though it is higher than the 5.4 percent seen two years ago, it was not expected to go over 10 percent. Although this is the first time in Texas history voters were required to show government-issued photo identification before casting their ballots, except for some widely publicized cases — one of which included Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis — there were no reports of major problems.

Moreover, despite the fears of it being defeated, Proposition 6 never seemed to be in danger of failing.